Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The remains of our second turkey!! Both actually turned out quite well and were very tasty!
Here we are eating dinner. We went around the circle and everyone took turns saying what they were grateful for. I'm grateful no one got food poisoning!! (Among many other things!)
So my flatmates and I decided to throw a Thanksgiving Dinner Party...which then snowballed into a Thanksgiving Dinner Party for 25 people! It was a ton of work and we couldn't have done it without our mothers (who we called frequently in the days running up to the affair) but it turned out extremely well!! Here I am finishing up dressing our two turkeys!! We had to borrow the oven of our friends flat who live 10 minutes away to cook one of the turkeys. We got some pretty strange looks from people when we got on the bus with a fully dressed raw turkey but it was fun and hilarious!
Natalie and I went to Blenheim for their Christmas craft fair!! It was great fun! The palace was decked out for Christmas and the fair was huge! Gratefully all the stalls were covered or indoors because the weather was very uncooperative! We had a great time - the crafts and gifts were beautiful! And of course the treats were amazing! We had fudge, truffles and chestnuts!
Here's Natalie showing off our warm, freshly roasted chestnuts!! Yum! After eating chestnuts roasted on an open fire I have a greater appreciation for The Christmas Song!
My second Guy Fawkes Day! I celebrated Guy Fawkes Day last year in New Zealand but that was small stuff compared with the show I went to this year! We went with a group from the ward to a fireworks and pyrotechnics show in Tower Hamlets. It was really fun! During the fireworks, the music playing was very funny. All the songs were fire related like 'Great Balls of Fire,' and 'Ring of Fire' - very different from our traditional patriotic music but a lot of fun!
They also had a carnival in addition to the fireworks and pyrotechnics. Here I am enjoying a carnival necessity - candy floss!! (Aka cotton candy)

Here I am at the Harrod's Christmas Parade!! Wow, Harrod's really knows how to put on a party! The parade was on a Saturday morning, even though we arrived early it was packed! It was really cute because the kids were so excited. It is a small parade but very lavish. They handed out free balloons, water, juice, cookies, pins, headbands, and other treats! I was too far back to get any but oh well. The theme was The Wizard of Oz and all the characters paraded by followed of course by Santa! It was a lot of fun and a good kick off for the Christmas season.